Lost 5.6: 316

Oh my dear Losties! The first five episodes of this season have been great. They’ve tied up some theories we’ve all wondered about. They’ve answered some questions. They’ve sent us on some trajectories that made us actually (ok, possibly) see where this show is headed. But last night. OH, LAST NIGHT! I felt like last night was actually the season premiere. Last night we see our Losties get BACK ON THE ISLAND.

In fact, we begin with JACK’S EYE. (I can tell there will be lots of ALL CAPS today. Just bear with me. I could barely sleep last night I was so excited—or was that because my 4 month old woke up 3 times? Anywhoo.) Jack wakes up in the jungle. In a suit. And oh! I just knew we were seeing a flashback to Season 1. I had even heard rumors that the first scene of Season 1 was actually a flashback/forward to present day. Alas, I was wrong. (However, that would have been great!)

Jack hears Hurley calling for help. He runs into the jungle and finds Hurley and a guitar case drowning in a lagoon. After they realize they can stand, they see Kate unconscious on the edge of the water. They wake her up (how un-doctor-ly did that seem?) and she says, “Are we…?” Jack’s response, “Yeah…we’re back.”

Then the black screen o’lost and the text: FOURTY SIX HOURS EARLIER

This is where I almost threw something at the screen. The flashFORWARDS were easier to deal with than this “XX years/days/hours earlier” thing we’ve been getting. Well, are you ready? Let’s recap the last 46 hours! And I want to apologize in advance for getting into some minutia of conversation, etc. Every scene was just chock-full of Lostie-goodness!

We pick up right where we left off last week. Sun, Jack, Ben and Desmond are talking to the eerie Mrs. Hawking. She leads them downstairs (and in typical Lost fashion, no one utters a word of a question) and through a DHARMA door and into a HATCH. Well, it wasn’t a hatch. But it looked like the hatch. This station was called “The Lamp Post”. According to Mrs. Hawking, this station is where the Dharma Initiative found The Island.

She explained how it all worked but it honestly didn’t make much sense. Basically, there was a certain Dharma-ite who theorized they couldn’t find where The Island currently was but they COULD find where The Island was ABOUT to be. This mystery theorist created formulas and this giant pendulum to correctly discover The Island’s whereabouts.

She hands Jack a notebook with flight times and explains that they only have 36 hours to get into this little window of opportunity. And they’ll need to be on Ajira Airlines 316 to Guam to do it. (AJIRA!! Yay! I was right! And now I’m almost certain Locke/Sawyer/Juliet were firing at The Oceanic Six on the outriggers.)

Desmond is incredulous. He can’t believe anyone would willingly go back to The Island. He yells at Mrs. Hawking for stealing four years of his life by leading him to The Island originally. He delivers the message from Daniel and then storms out of the room. No one seems to upset at his departure. (Strange. They didn’t seem to be surprised he was there in the first place.)

Mrs. Hawking then privately gives Jack a letter from Locke—his suicide note. Jack didn’t know Locke had committed suicide. She explains that they are going to have to “recreate” the details of their first crash. So, as many of them as possible need to be on that plane—especially Locke in the casket…wait for it…to mirror Christian Shepherd’s arrival on The Island. In fact, Mrs. Hawking tells Jack that Locke needs to have something of Christian’s with him in the casket. Jack is equally shocked, scared, dumbfounded and grossed out. He doesn’t want to do it. (But we know he will.)

Jack then leaves Mrs. Hawking and runs into a (praying?) Ben upstairs at the church. Ben motions to a painting, Caravaggio: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas and delivers a beautiful story about the Apostle Thomas. Thomas is long remembered as the Doubting Disciple. He didn’t believe Jesus had come back to life until he put his finger in Jesus’ wounds. But he was not remembered for his previous statement before Jesus’ death, “Let us also go, that we may die with you.” (Dripping with meaning!)

He then tells Jack he’ll pick up Locke’s body and meet him at the airport. Nice transition.

And here’s where the story got weird for me. Jack leaves the church and is seen drinking it up at a bar. He gets a phone call…from a retirement home. Apparently someone has tried to escape and they need Jack. (Whaaaa? Are they introducing a new character to us?!)

Uh, yes they are. Jack’s grandfather, Ray. Jack helps Ray unpack his suitcase and discovers a pair of Christian’s shoes at the bottom. Aha! Jack takes them home and while pouring himself another drink discovers KATE lying on his bed.

Kate looks drunk or beat up or exhausted—maybe all three. Jack is only slightly shocked to see her there but finally says, “Where’s Aaron?” She replies, “If you want me to go back to The Island don’t you EVER EVER ask me about Aaron again.” And this, my dear lostie friends, is when I knew we’d be seeing this same 46 hours over and over again from each of the Oceanic Six’s perspective. *sigh *

Oh, yeah, then Jack and Kate kiss. Blech.

The next morning they’re uncomfortably having coffee and orange juice. They discuss Christian’s shoes. And then when the phone rings, Kate escapes to the airport while Jack answers it.

And who is it? Oh, just Ben sounding as if he got beat up. And when we see him—well, that’s exactly what happened. He looks like he got in a fight with Smokey. (Maybe he did!) He asks Jack to pick up Locke’s body because he’s been well…detained.

Jack isn’t excited about this new errand, but he does it. When he is alone with Locke’s body (at the butcher shop run by Other-ton-wannabe, Jill), he puts Christian’s shoes on Locke. And delivers the best line of the night, “Wherever you are, right now, Locke, I bet you’re laughing you’re a** off!”

Soon, Jack is at the airport checking in Locke and himself at Ajira airlines. The man in line behind him offers him condolences for the death of his friend. And just then, Jack sees Kate. And soon, Sun. Then suddenly, Sayid appears handcuffed and led by, what’s this? A US MARSHALL? Finally, Jack finds Hurley who has bought up every available seat on the plane so no one else can board. (Sweet Hurley, doesn’t want anyone else to crash on The Island!)

They all board the plane (including the man who offered Jack condolences) and just then Ben arrives. Hurley is ticked and says, “No one told me he was coming!” And Ben says, “Who told you to be here, Hugo?” (Who indeed? I thought Ben’s attorney was getting Hurley out of prison. I thought the whole point was to get the 06 on the plane. Why didn’t Ben tell Hurley to be on this flight?)

They finally get all settled in and Jack starts making the rounds. He sits next to Kate and says, “Don’t you think this means something? Sayid? Hurley? All on the same flight? We’re all together again.” Kate replies, “Just because we’re on the same plane doesn’t mean we’re together.” (HMMM….didn’t feel that way last night, did it, Kate?!)

Soon the pilot makes an announcement and introduces himself as Frank Lapidus. Now was anyone really surprised by this?! Jack asks the stewardess to tell Frank he’s on board. When Frank leaves the cockpit to see Jack, he also sees the rest of the Oceanic Six. He delivers the second best line of the night, “We’re not going to Guam are we?”

Jack heads back to his seat and talks to Ben instead. Ben is reading while Jack is fretting. Jack says, “How can you read?” Ben then delivers the third best line of the night, “My mother taught me.” (Wait a minute…Ben says his mother taught him to read. His mother died in childbirth..!) They discuss Locke’s suicide note and Jack finally decides to read it. And in un-Lost-fashion, they actually show us the letter. It says, “Jack—I wish you had believed. JL”

And that is when it gets good—the plane begins to lurch. Hurley tells everyone to buckle their seatbelts and there is a flash of light—-and now, back to our first scene—Jack in the jungle.

We go through the whole first scene until Kate sits up. It continues as they begin to discuss what happened—did they crash? Where is everyone else? And just then a new looking Dharma van (possibly Hurley’s?) approaches. A Dharma-jumpsuit-clad man gets out with gun raised. Everyone is wide-eyed as they recognize JIN.

THE END

My Big Theory
They would not have made it back to The Island unless Jack had believed in The Island. After reading Locke’s letter, that set the Island-ness into motion. His act of faith did it. There is some weird thing—a triangle if you will between Locke/Jack/Christian.

Christian, the father figure. Jack and Locke the opposotie sons. Locke gives his life for The ISland and the Losties. It all ties in nicely with antoher “316” from the Bible…possibly one of the most famous 316’s…John 3;16, “For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son. Whoever believes in Him will not die but have everlasting life.”

The Christian references here are almost overwhelming…Christian Shepherd=Jesus, the Shepherd=Christ, Locke loved The Island and gave himself up, Locke believes in the Island and is asking Jack to do the same and of course the most intruiging part is the EVERLASTING life. Will Locke recieve it? Will Jack? Is this what Richard has?

Questions & Stuff To Talk About
1. The Lamp post. At first I thought this was a reference to the church. You know, being a light to the world and all that. Then as hubby and I were discussing it, he said, “It was a Narnia reference!” Of course! The Pevensie children enter Narnia through the wardrobe and see the Lamp post. This is the entrance and exit to the land of Narnia. This station is the entrance and exit to The Island. Also, if you’re a Narnia fan, you’ll know the Pevensies couldn’t get into Narnia when they wanted. Aslan called them in. Sometimes the door was open, sometimes it wasn’t. Very similar to Mrs. Hawking’s description.

2. Who is the mysterious Dharma Initivive genius who disoverd the formulas and pendulum and location of The Island? Someone we know? Faraday perhaps? Dr. Chang?

3. Mrs. Hawking seems strangley LESS strange. When we saw her talking to Ben in the previous episodes, I felt like Ben was afraid of her. And the whole world would collapse if he didn’t get the 06 back to The Island. In this episode, she felt like a friendly teacher who was giving the answers to a test. I don’t understand the whole Mrs. Hawking/Desmond relationship either. Does she not want him back on The Island, too?

4. Ben is back as his role of the all-knowing-Island-boy. The whole Thomas conversation was just brilliant. Jack has long been the doubter. But now he has the chance to be a believer. I felt like Ben was giving Jack the opportunity to be known as the believer. Possibly taking Locke’s place?!

5. OK, the shoes for Locke thing was just weird.

6. Who was the man at the airport offering his condolences to Jack? He was the only non-Oceanic Six in first class. What’s his connection to The Island, I wonder?

7. WHERE IS WALT?

8. Who beat up Ben?

Conclusion
Holy-stinkin’-lostie-cow. I loved last night’s episode. I was wide-eyed the entire time. There was so many underlying clues and secrets and innuendos. It felt like first season with more unanswered questions! But I kinda liked it that way. I cannot wait to see how these 46 hours have treated the rest of our Oceanic Six. So, what say you? What did you pick up on? I want to talk abou this!!!

39 Responses to Lost 5.6: 316

I too was blown away by last night’s episode. At first I thought I’d missed one as my wife and I picked up right as Jack was jumping into the water to get Hurley. I didn’t think they’d jump a few days ahead like they did.

My only gripe is that this show is an hour long – I am always craving more when the show ends.

I did not pick up on Ben’s mother comment (he said she taught him to read but she died in childbirth), but I think he was just being sarcastic so not sure there was alot of meaning there.

Kate is really annoying me. I mean, really.

I missed Sawyer, Juliet and Dan. I can’t wait to see more of Dan’s involvement with the island.

I agree about Walt. Surely they don’t expect us to just forget about Walt. So where is he?!

I have the same questions you do too. Who talked Kate and Hurley into coming? Who beat up Ben? Is Sayid playing along with being escorted by a US Marshall thing? Cuz he could totally take her down if he really didn’t want to go.

Did they really need Frank the pilot? I mean, are they keeping him in the story line?

I loved the Thomas speech by Ben, very very well delivered and such a great tie in with the storyline. Brillant.

Nice observation on the Lamp Post/Narnia tie in too. Makes total sense.

I did notice that Hurley brought along a guitar case, just like Charlie had. And of course, the US Marshall with Sayid. There’s got to be more to that random guy that offered his condolences to Jack. I wonder what tho?

Sorry this got so long! So many things answered, yet so many questions left!

I forgot you don’t watch previews for the next week and was about to bring something up, but I won’t. But next week looks to be VERY interesting! I can’t wait!

Frank was supposed to be the pilot of Oceanic 815 but was replaced for unknown reasons. Perhaps he was supposed to be on the island originally.

As for Ben’s “promise” to Widmore, we’ll have to wait and see. I’d like to think that Desmond somehow prevented Ben from killing Penelope, but we’ll have to wait and see. I’m curious about what more The Island needs from Desmond (assuming Mrs. Hawking isn’t lying.)

Ben was beaten up by Desmond when he tried (succeeded?) in killing Penelope on the boat. He was calling from the marina and he told Jack that he’d had to make good on a promise or some such thing. The promise: he told Widmore that he’d kill Penelope.

Oh and there was a Wizard of Oz reference as well: Jack removing Dead Locke’s shoes.

Somebody help me out here. Obviously, I was supposed to remember who Frank the pilot is, but I don’t. So who the heck is he?

My first through when it came to The Lampost was Narnia. And can I tell you how sad I am that CS Lewis is no longer in the cast list.

I do want to know what happened to Aaron and how they got the rest of the group on the Island. (I’m wondering if Sun was involved somehow.) But I hope they do it in one or two flashbacks instead of another episode like this. I hate it when they get us to an exciting/interesting point and then spend the next week or two getting us to that point from another point of view. I am willing to give them a pass on next week because I really need to know all of that as well. But we’d better spend some serious time on the island after that.

The only way Kate gave up Aaron would have been because of some threat to Aaron’s life or perhaps Jack’s life or even Sawyer’s life. Someone “dead” from the island must have come to her and convinced her she needed to go back and without Aaron. We know she has already dreamed of Claire so we know the island is not done with her yet either. Also, the obvious answer to Ben’s whoop ass look is a fight with Desmond over trying to kill Penny and it would drive Desmond back to the island. BUT I’m wondering if Penny is actually Annie from Ben’s childhood on the island and if that maybe saved her at the last minute when Ben found that out.

Sadly, I think it’s probably true *about Penny and Ben…bummer indeed. That storyline scares me. The only reason for us to presume for Desmond going back to the island (Mrs.Hawking said it wasn’t done with him) would be to seek vengeance on Ben if indeed Ben hurt Penny and/or Charlie (their son).

I think Charlie (‘you all everybody’) told Hurley to go back and bring his guitar, which is the only reason I think Hurley would go back – if Charlie and maybe even Libby told him to.

As far as making circumstances close to the original flight – Kate and Sayid have switched roles. She’s *possibly going back to look for Sawyer. Sayid was originally going to the U.S. to look for his lady. Originally, Kate was w/ the U.S. marshal and now it’s Sayid in her place.

The shoes are some weird symbol, vibe, connector to The Island, so that The Island will be receiving of them. (Sometimes in ghost stories people are required to have an item of the deceased in order to make a connection with them, or something of that sort.)

Aaron HAD BETTER be ok. I hope Claire presented herself to Kate and put her in her place. Kate is, as others have noted, obnoxious.

I enjoy the reviews! Glad to have an outlet to discuss!

Oh! And Jin and Sun’s daughter – poor child. I hope Sun at least called before she left.

First of all, I love reading your Lost synopsis every week after the show. It’s great to relive this season since we are finally getting answers.

Two questions for you: I like the theory about Jack believing in the Island and setting things in motion for them to return…on that same note, was there a reason the whole Oceanic crew was on the original flight since they coincidentally fly into one of these openings. Locke always surmised that they were destined to be on that flight and it seems like that all signs are pointing in that direction now as they got on the one flight that would be flying into the particular opening happening at that time. AND if that is the case, who was on the plan then that believed in the Island and sent them on that first course? Locke because he was searching for something else? Or maybe Kate, John, Charlie, Sun, Hurley…anyone for that matter. They were all searching for something else when they got on that flight.

Second…what is going on with Faraday!!!!?!?!?!?! “I think that man was you Daniel” OMG did all the newbies grow up on the Island? What is his deal in general, as he seems to be the only one unaffected by this sickness even though he was apparently on the Island before. I think Daniel is a realy central figure to this story.

I loved that Frank was the pilot! Although I loved the scruffy version of him better than the cleaned up version.

I totally caught the Lamppost/Narnia connection – that was exciting. I was wondering how they would go back and explain how everyone else got there. I like the idea of seeing the same day from everyone’s perspective. I look forward to that!!

Another great episode! Of course, I say that every week. Hubby wants me to write a blog post on Jack’s co-dependency. I’ll let you know when it’s done (hopefully tonight, but I can’t promise anything!).

I missed the first minute or so, so I was confused when I saw Jack running through the jungle in a suit and jumping into the water….I thought I missed an episode! Whew, so glad to be wrong! :)

I like the Lamp Post connection to Narnia! I wonder (and hope) that it really does come from CS Lewis’s book!

I have a thought about Desmond…..he’s on his boat and heading away from LA, right?. Well, what if he heads in the general direction of Guam and is at the right place at the right time and gets transported to The Island too??!! Mrs. Hawking did say that The Island wasn’t finished with him. I agree, I don’t like the whole Penny needs to die part. I hope Ben didn’t succeed in his mission. *sigh*

I see that next week is going back to what Locke did before he died…..and I’m not happy about not having more island time with our losties!!! I am sorely tempted to not watch it next week and so the week after I can watch two episodes back to back. We’ll see how strong my will is come next Wed night around 9:00. :)

Last nights episode was superb! The connections they made with everyone on the plane with the small minor things we have all forgotten about was brilliant writing. So last nights episode was amazing but I’d become my least favorite if Ben dies or isnt allowed to come back to the island. Being my favorite character i want him to be on till the very end.

But with the speech about Thomas do you think he was alluding to the fact that he, Ben, could be the Thomas in that situation. Where he hasnt fully come to the realization of him not allowing himself to go back to the island, and by him going on the plane and trying to get back – is just like Thomas touching Jesus’ wounds. Anyways i hope he is 1. still alive, and 2. back on the island as well because i cant imagine LOST without Ben… we still has too many mysteries that only he can answer.

I just picked up on the “Lamp Post”/Narnia reference as I was reading your recap (though before you mentioned it). Fun!

The method of finding the Island sounds to me like the observer effect in physics, which states (roughly) that you can’t ever precisely observe something, because the act of being observed affects the something and changes its state. The best you can do is predict what something will do (or will go) based on prior observations. Or something like that…it’s wrapped up in a lot of quantum mechanics that I don’t really know much about.

A-You are TOO good! I totally missed the Ben-mother comment! Those “lines of the night” are all the places that I laughed out loud!

One thought about Sayid and the Marshall. They have to recreate the original trip, right. Well, Kate was escorted by a US marshall. Don’t know if it makes a difference being Sayid this time. Just a thought!

Stace: You’re right. I thought I mentioned that…when I saw Sayid handcuffed, I yelled, US MARSHALL! They had to have the “prisoner” on the plane. It will be interesting to see if there is anyone else in coach who might be parallel to our original Losties…

Amanda- did you check out my blog yet with all the new questions? I have a new one…is Kate pregnant from her night with Jack? As far as recreating the original flight, it would make sense to have her pregnant. Ben was the original Hurley- running late. Sayid was the original Kate. Locke is the original Christian. Is Kate the original Claire?

I think not having Aaron on the plane will make this whole thing unpredictable!

Great recap. I like to give it a few days before I start scouting the blogs for Lost recaps. It gives me time to process things on my own. And tehn pat myself on the back when I see others have come to the same conclusions I have! Ha!

I haven’t had time to read all the comments so I may be repeating what others have said, if so , forgive me.

When Mrs Hawking was opening the door to The Lamp Post, she had the oddest look on her face, dontcha think? It was kind of a cross between “Get a load of this” and “Your life will never be the same again” and terrifying English teacher. I don’t like her because she knows much more than she lets on. Just like Ben. She doesn’t seem to like Ben much though, so she’s a pinch above him IMHO.

And if the island is so great, why aren’t Widmore and Hawking (original Others) trying to get back there too? Are they waiting for the Oceanic Six to “make things right” before they return? I know Widmore wants it back, but we don’t see him on any planes, do we? I can only think that if he (Widmore) knows where Hawking is, then he somehow knows everything she knows and is pulling more strings from behind the scenes than we are lead to believe. In true LOST fashion.

After the Doubting Thomas scene (which was brilliant and pretty accurate, if I remember my Sunday School days correctly), don’t you think Ben went to try and find/kill Penny? He promised Widmore in an earlier episode (season four I think) that he’d do the same to Widmore as Widmore did to him (allowing Keamy to kill Ben’s daughter). And he did make the phone call from a marina . . .

I found it interesting that Hurley bought 78 seats and there were still so many people on board. And that the Oceanic Six were all in first class. Were they all in first class during the plane crash?

I think that Charlie must’ve told Hurley to be on the plane because he started listening/believing to Charlie after Jack showed up right when Charlie said he would (season four).

I hope Kate gave Aaron to Claire’s mom, but have nothing to base it on. She was awfully torn up over it, so it made me wonder if she gave him up under extreme duress (Ben kind of situation?) And the fact that she went to Jack for comfort AND HE GAVE IN! Ugh, made me want to hurl. Seriously. Will he never learn? For a man that seems to such a pessimist, he sure seems to be an optimist when it comes to love.

And I hate that she made Jack promise not to ever ask her about Aaron when she knows he has trouble with those kinds of promises and trusting her. She has some major issues, our girl Kate.

I thought that Mrs. Hawking’s referral to the genius who figured out how to find where the island ‘would be’ must be Faraday, but I can’t wrap my brain around how it would figure into the time line of things.

If Jin survived the boat blow up, isn’t it possible that Michael did? And at the end of the episode, Jin is wearing new Dharma clothes and driving a new looking Darma van – does that mean they jumped back on the Island in a previous time?

I, too, thought that Kate may end up pregnant and that it was interesting that the Oceanic Six had kind of traded roles, as Becky mentioned above.

Sorry, looks like I hijacked your post.

And I didn’t see it coming – that Lupidis would be the pilot. I was just as surprised as Jack.

And one more thing if we are going with the Trinity (Christian/Locke/Jack) analogy: how interesting it seemed to me that we aren’t shown another plane crash on the Island when Jack, Kate and Hurley return. They even comment that they don’t remember a crash, but it was like one minute they were on the plane and now they are not. It was like they were raptured off the plane. Just a thought.

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